A/N:
Released on February 17, 2019

An almost regular length chapter? How is that possible???

I actually thought this chapter would be really long, but I managed to figure out how to fit everything into the last two chapters. Hopefully XD

If you hadn't realized yet, this is the second to last chapter of the book! It's almost over :(

But there will be a third book for this series! Details will be released shortly after the last chapter is put up :)

I hope you enjoy! This is one of the bigger moments you've been waiting for XD

Word Count: 2749

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Chapter 44: A Brief Overview

It couldn't have been longer than five minutes before our father came back into the dining room to speak with us.

"Your mother is sorting things out with the police. I'm going to help with the rest of the phone calls. We had a lot of people searching for you." He gave Jake a pointed look.

"And Alicia," My dad said to get my attention, causing me to straighten my spine to prepare for whatever he was about to lecture me on. "Thank you for bringing Jake home."

Although his kind words shocked me, I managed to nod my head once in reply.

And with that, he walked from the room to go about his business and leave us to ours.

I stood without a word, scooping my backpack up from where I'd left it, fishing inside for my phone and slipping it into my pocket, slinging the bag over my shoulder.

Quietly making my way back to the table where my siblings sat, I struggled to think of something to say.

"I have to go make a call, but I'll catch up with you guys later." I mumbled, hurrying upstairs to my room before they could respond.

I'd only made up the excuse because I wasn't ready to talk to Lucy or Jake yet, but I did need to talk to Ash.

Zane was standing in the bedroom half of the attic when I entered my room. "I thought we agreed to you hiding in there." I whispered, closing the door behind me quickly and gesturing to the second half of the attic, the storage room.

"I knew it was you coming up here." He argued with a smile. "And I could hear that no one else was coming with you."

"I just don't want you to get caught and have to leave." I admitted, setting my backpack by my closet.

"What happened to talking to Lucy?" Zane questioned, recalling the promise we'd made. "I thought we were going to tell her the truth when we got here."

"We are," I conceded uncertainly. "But I need to text Ash first to let him know everything's okay."

My boyfriend nodded, taking a seat in my desk chair. It was more than a little strange to have him sitting in my bedroom again, a place that was home to the old me, whereas he was a part of my new life. But it was a good strange.

I pulled my cell from my pocket to send Ash a quick message. "We made it, safe and sound. Zane's power is restored and I found Jake. Are you okay?"

I was worried that he would ignore me after the arguments we had over him leaving, but he sent a message almost immediately. "Yup, staying out of trouble. Don't worry about me. Tell Zane that if he doesn't keep you safe, I'll kill him in the most painful way imaginable."

I couldn't help but smile at the sentiment when I noticed the smile emoji he added. Zane only shook his head ruefully when I relayed Ash's message.

"We're all good here. Take care of yourself." I texted as a goodbye.

"I guess I'll wait here while you get your sister." Zane offered, knowing that bringing her up to my room would provide the best privacy for our retelling of the latest events of my life.

I only made it down the slim attic steps before running into Lucy. The stairs were located at the end of the hallway of the second floor, hidden away around the corner on the right.

"Lucy, I was just going to look for you." I commented nervously, forcing myself to sound calm.

"I was just going to my room." She said simply, proceeding to step around me to get to the last door on the left.

"Hey," I said softly to get her attention, careful not to grab ahold of her arm because she'd only pull away from me if I did. "I need to talk to you about what's really been going on."

And I was afraid she'd notice that my body temperature was lower than normal. I didn't want her to demand answers before I confessed that I was a vampire.

"You're going to tell me the truth?" Lucy reiterated, glancing up at me dubiously.

"Yes," I told her firmly, mostly to convince myself that I was going to do that. "But before we go up to my room, I want you to know that my friend Zane is here and Mom and Dad can't know. He's going to help me tell you the truth because he was there for most of it."

Fortunately, Lucy wasn't too upset by Zane's presence, more focused on finally learning the truth.

So I started from the beginning, telling her about how I fought the vampire on the bus, eventually losing. I paused when she asked me why I was still alive, knowing that I had to tell her that I was turned into a vampire, but I couldn't stop imagining her reacting awfully to the news.

Zane and I both knew it'd be a bad idea to show any signs of our relationship just yet, so he couldn't do much to reassure me. But his gaze was comforting enough as he stood beside me, ready to step in and help with the story when he could.

So I plunged on, telling Lucy how I was turned into a vampire and how Ash hadn't meant to go out of control. I explained about him being bipolar, then quickly moved on to how he tried to make up for it by training me to make sure that I didn't lose control.

The look of horror on my sister's face was almost unbearable, but once I started letting loose everything I'd hidden, I couldn't stop. I went on about my time with Ash before being kidnapped by some of Storm's men, including the guy standing next to me.

Lucy briefly turned her anger on Zane instead of looking heartbrokenly at me, but I immediately explained that Zane had been faking being evil, even though I hadn't figured that out until later.

I made sure to skip over the details of my time in captivity and how deep Dalton's betrayal really went, getting to our escape and our time at Ash's cabin together.

I didn't mention Ash's "episode" and how he'd almost killed me when he lost control, only saying that I'd tried helping him through his problems.

Then I skimmed over me coming home and thinking that Jake had been kidnapped by Storm, telling her the real reason for my trip to the hospital a few days after our reunion.

I saw the understanding in her narrowed eyes when I connected the dots, telling her that I had passed out at dinner because I hadn't been getting enough blood.

I was almost sure that she was recalling every other time I'd acted strangely since the bus crash and how that was a result of me being a vampire.

Zane and I both told the story of his telepathy retrieval, of the hunters and vampires that had tried to catch and/or kill us along the way. I even told her about the big fight with Storm's telepath Malcolm Slay and how I barely beat him.

I didn't think it was right to reveal Jake's secrets, but I didn't want to have any more secrets, so I told Lucy that she'd have to ask him about it.

"So you're- you're really a vampire?" Lucy repeated, clearly mortified as she shifted away from me. "You're like Storm now?"

Tears glistened in her eyes, mirroring my own as I held back my emotions. "No, Lucy, it's not like that. We were wrong about vampires. We didn't understand them. They're- they're not all bad."

I didn't bother telling her that there were also different types of vampires, not wanting to add to the hurt and confusion she was undoubtedly feeling.

The expression on her face hardened, reminding me a lot of myself. "I've only seen vampires hurt people. You can't possibly believe that this is all okay! You used to despise vampires!"

Her tone of voice cut through me like a knife, ripping up my insides as I scrambled to hold it all in. "Lucy, things aren't always what they seem... I'm still me."

"Not if you're a vampire." She replied coldly, glaring at Zane and I in turn.

It was exactly as I'd feared. She wasn't going to accept what I'd become. She'd hate me forever, and I didn't know if I could live with that.

A few tears escaped my eyes, trailing down my cheeks before I could swipe them away. Lucy's expression didn't change, remaining angry with fists clenched at her sides, like she would attack if provoked.

My breath hitched in my throat as I tried to get myself under control, to think up a reasonable argument that would change her mind.

I guessed that was the last straw for Zane, seeing me look so broken as my walls crumbled due to my sister's harsh words.

"You didn't let us finish the story." He declared, taking half a step forward as if to shield me.

Lucy shifted on her feet uneasily, distrust written all over her face. "I don't want to hear it. It was probably all lies anyway. That vampire isn't my sister and you can't fool me, I know you're a vampire even if you don't have the eyes anymore."

I'd almost forgotten that Zane's eyes weren't always light blue like mine. I'd gotten used to the new color so quickly, feeling that the light color of telepath's eyes was meant for him.

"That's the thing, neither of us are vampires anymore." Zane announced, sounding so sure of himself that even Lucy paused.

I snapped out of my initial shock, sending thoughts to him before he could continue with his lies. "No, Zane, don't do this. I promised her no lies!"

"Yeah, but I didn't." He thought defiantly, going on with his made up story. "We found the cure for vampires at the science facility where I got my telepathy back. We're no longer vampires."

Lucy looked between the two of us, probably waiting for me to jump in to assure her it was true. "Why didn't you say that before?" She asked in a wavering voice, sounding to be on the verge of tears.

She didn't wait for my answer, pulling me into a bear hug, too relieved to question whether Zane was telling the truth or not.

Zane disappeared into the bathroom, giving us the few minutes alone that he knew we needed. I calmed Lucy down, speaking softly as I held onto her tightly, never wanting her to be upset or angry with me ever again.

The tender moment ended when our mother's footsteps echoed on the steps up to my room. I stayed where I was with my arms around my little sister as someone knocked lightly on the door.

Lucy pulled away as the door opened to reveal our mom. "Sorry for interrupting." She apologized, noticing the tear stains on our faces. "I wanted to know what you'd like for lunch, Alicia."

I thought about telling her I wasn't hungry and leaving on my next trip without saying goodbye, but I couldn't do that to her, not after what happened with Jake and how stressed out it made her.

She had to know where I was going and when I'd be back to stop her from worrying so much. "Actually, Mom... I'm not staying for lunch."

Her expression only stayed bewildered for a second before turning into a frown, extremely similar to the heartbroken look that her youngest daughter was sporting a few minutes ago. "You're leaving again?"

"I'm sorry, Mom. There's something important I have to deal with, a promise I made to a friend that I want to help them with." I tried to explain as vaguely as possible.

"What about your family? Don't you think we're more important?" My mom said, practically begging me to stay.

I glanced away from her and Lucy, wanting nothing more than to run off to avoid the argument. "You know I haven't been myself for a long time. I'm going to fix it."

"What about school?" She questioned, arms crossed as she put on a stern face.

"I won't even be gone for that long. I'll probably be home later tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll go back to school when I get home. I'll be able to catch up." I told her, hoping that she'd let me go without a fight.

"No, you won't be going anywhere. Your father's right, I can't stand for your nonsense anymore." She declared, hitting me where it hurt the most. "Come here, Lucy. We're leaving Alicia to think about her recent choices while we prepare dinner."

My sister obeyed, silently leaving my room and giving me a regretful stare as the door closed. I heard the indistinguishable sound of the lock turning. Then their footsteps sounded down the stairs and into the kitchen.

My mom had always been the one to stand up for me, to try making up excuses for the way I acted so that I'd get in less trouble with my father. I never thought the day would come when she'd openly agree with him like that.

Zane came out of the dark bathroom, having turned off the light to avoid being detected by my mother. "Did your mom really just lock you in your room?"

I pushed down the upsetting feelings that swirled within me, focusing on the task at hand. "Yes, but she doesn't know that I can jump three stories out a window unharmed."

Swinging my backpack on, I headed over to my window and pulled it open. "You coming?" I asked over my shoulder with an amused smile.

Then I was free falling until my feet hit solid ground. I moved out of the way to watch as Zane did the same.

We set out for Kirksville, Missouri, the place that my boyfriend called home, a trip that Zane said would only take us a few hours.

I remained silent for the first fifteen minutes before I had to confront him. "Zane, wait." I said, slowing to a stop and causing him to do the same.

"We need to talk about what you did." I asserted, conveying my disappointment. "You lied to Lucy, even though you said that you'd help me tell her the truth."

He ran a hand through his blond hair while staring at the ground guiltily. I could tell that he knew exactly what to say, but he was reluctant because it might hurt me. But he said it anyway. "Look, Alicia... We both saw the way Lucy reacted when she knew the truth. You would never be happy if she despised you like that. I'm sorry, but I had no choice."

"But you did have a choice! I asked you to tell her the truth. You could've listened to me." I argued, frustrated by the fact that I'd helped deceive my little sister again.

Zane took a step forward, jaw clenched as he said what was on his mind, not holding back anymore. "But that's not what you wanted! You wanted her to accept us, and I'm sorry, but she wouldn't have. She can't know that you're a vampire or she'll push you away again."

My hands curled into fists at my sides, my body practically shaking with rage at his words. But I knew he was telling the truth, and that's what made me so angry, not wanting to break down again.

Zane must've known that because, despite my altogether furious demeanor, he stepped forward to wrap his arms around me comfortingly.

I responded instantly, holding onto him and willing myself not to cry. He let me go after a minute, eyes softly staring into mine and waiting for me to say something.

"Thank you." I whispered. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you. I- I know you're right, I just don't like it."

"It's okay." Zane muttered with a small smile. "I'd react the same way if the roles were reversed. Let's just forget about your life struggles for a bit and get on with mine."

I grinned at his usual antics, collecting myself before running alongside him as we made our way toward Kirksville once again.